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Author Archives: Graham Flanagan

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to interview acting legend Dan Aykroyd. While our main focus was the 30th anniversary of “Trading Places,” I veered into the far-nerdier territory of Aykroyd’s seldom-discussed working relationship with Steven Spielberg. Spielberg gave Aykroyd his first role in a major motion picture in 1979 with his World War II Comedy Spectacle […]

Back in April, I experienced what I can honestly say has been the highlight of my career as a television producer so far. I interviewed legendary documentary filmmaker Ken Burns for Bloomberg TV. I was fortunate enough to spend about a half-hour with Burns, who spoke candidly about his long-running relationship with PBS, his feelings about the future of media […]

Recently, I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to sit down with veteran movie and television producer Lynda Obst. She was in New York to promote her new book Sleepless in Hollywood. The book looks at the many ways in which Hollywood has changed and continues to change; the growing importance of China as both an audience and financier, […]

Over the weekend, my girlfriend downloaded BEFORE SUNRISE (1994) on iTunes to watch on her iPad during a 3-hour train ride. Naturally, that led to her downloading its sequel BEFORE SUNSET (2004), which I also watched. Since we’d both caught “Before-Fever,” the next logical step was to see the recently released third installment of Richard Linklater’s relationship saga BEFORE MIDNIGHT, […]

Stephen Soderbergh’s SIDE EFFECTS feels nothing like the work of a director tired and ready to retire. On the contrary, this superb psychological thriller exudes the passion of a young, hungry filmmaker just beginning to hit his stride. The last decade has been interesting for Soderbergh who, by 2001, had achieved unprecedented success as a director who could simultaneously appeal […]

Last week. the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Film Comment Selects hosted a sneak preview of the new Steven Soderbergh film SIDE EFFECTS at the Walter Reade Theater in New York. Read my review of the movie HERE. After the screening, the bulk of the creative players behind the movie took the stage for a Q&A session moderated by […]

The Setup: When the crew of the spaceship Nostromo becomes the prey of a deadly extra-terrestrial being, Science Officer Ash (Ian Holm) enacts an order to bring the “life-form” back to corporate headquarters, regardless of the danger in which it puts the ship’s surviving members. When Warrant Officer Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) angrily confronts Ash about this, he attacks her until […]

THE SETUP: Troubled teenager Garry (Joaquin Phoenix) summons the courage to ask his mother Helen (Dianne Wiest) permission to call his estranged father and ask if he can move in with him for a few months. Although Helen tries to persuade Garry not to follow through, she reluctantly gives Garry his father’s work-number, which he immediately dials. Within seconds, Garry’s […]

The Movie: Swingers (1996) Spoiler Level: High The Setup: After a night of barhopping in Hollywood, three friends end up at a diner for some late-night breakfast. Throughout the film, the hero Mike (Jon Favreau) struggles to hit his stride with the ladies. However, on this particular night, Mike managed to make a connection with a ‘beautiful baby’ (Heather Graham) […]

As Page One: Inside the New York Times, continues to slowly roll out across the country, journalism-geeks will undoubtedly flock to their local art-houses for a chance to peek behind the curtain of the nation’s “paper-of-record.” While a significant portion of the breezy, accessible documentary offers a unique, fly-on-the-wall perspective on the day-to-day operations of the New York Times, it turns […]

Grade: ** (out of four) The marketing plan behind the new suspense-thriller Unknown attempts to capitalize on the success of Liam Neeson’s action blockbuster: Taken. Aside from the international location, as well as Neeson’s presence at the top of the cast,Unknown possesses very little in common with Taken. Neeson’s latest seems more like the movie that plot-twist master M. Night Shyamalan would make […]

Movie: Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) Spoiler Level: None The Setup: Winner of five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Kramer vs. Kramer chronicles the emotionally brutal battle between the recently divorced Ted and Joanna (Dustin Hoffman & Meryl Streep) for custody of their young son. The movie fearlessly examines the realities of the contemporary dysfunctional family. Much of its success can […]

Yesterday, we lost one of the greatest composers of film music in the history of the medium: John Barry, who died of a heart attack last night at the age of 77. Of course, the 5-time Oscar winner is best known as the arranger/composer behind many of the classic James Bond films. While Monty Norman is credited as the composer […]

From time to time, our friend and contributor Graham Flanagan gives us regular folk the scoop on some of the top new limited release features playing in New York and this week he had a chance to catch Danny Boyle’s buzzworthy 127 Hours. Check out Graham’s full review at his blog: http://grahamcam.tumblr.com/post/2129156473/review-127-hours

For me, this scene demonstrates Crowe’s powerful ability – as a writer – to tap into the psyche of the modern-day, American male and honestly convert that into cinematic language. If ever there existed one of those ‘this is what my buddies and I sound like’ moments in movies, this is definitely one of them.

During the opening scene of David Fincher’s new film “The Social Network,” Mark Zuckerberg – played by Jesse Eisenberg – says something that resonates throughout the rest of the movie. The future-billionaire is having a beer with a young lady who he’s apparently dating. That all changes when she hits him with six very devastating words: “I just want to […]

The Movie: Empire of the Sun Spoiler Level: Moderate The Setup: Many would agree that, along with Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg is one of the most famous filmmakers of all time. He’s made movies like “Jaws,” “E.T.” and “Schindler’s List” that quickly cemented their places in the pop culture lexicon. However, upon closer examination of Spielberg’s storied […]

Movie: The Circus (1928) Spoiler Level: Low The Setup: Charlie Chaplin’s 1928 comedy masterpiece The Circus often gets overshadowed by the auteur/star’s more famous works like Modern Times, City Lights and The Kid. True Chaplin-fans know, however, that The Circus possesses just as much heart and hilarity as any of Chaplin’s best films. It follows the famous Little Tramp as […]